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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

We have a couple of goals for our Gazetteer:

  • That it be a tool which helps us with planning our trips.
  • We're trying to shape our Gazetteer as a tool to help us understand the community in which our ancestors lived, the community that was part of their daily lives.
  • On our trips, we try to visit those places where our ancestors left their footprints.

By learning about Altoona (and the surrounding area) during the time that our ancestors lived, we hope to have a better understanding of both their community and its relationship to their lifes. We hope that this tool helps to give us an insight into their world.

As we add data and organize our Gazetteer to help with our family research, we will be adding to this our Genealogical Helper for Altoona. While we don't have information that is specific to any given person or family, we intend to expand our understanding about where and how people lived.

Neighboring Counties ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.

So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived:  their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the west contained birth and death records; the county to the north contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

Altoona is primarily located in Etowah County. A portion of Altoona extends into Blount County.

To see how the shape of Alabama's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Etowah County: Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, DeKalb, Marshall & Saint Clair.

Below are the counties that are near Altoona. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Altoona:

  • Etowah County     (The home county of Altoona)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Altoona, with the one closest to Altoona listed first.
    • Walnut Grove
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Nix ‑ Historic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Nix is located in Etowah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nix
    • Clear Springs ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Clear Springs is located in Etowah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Springs
    • Gallant
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Howelton
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Benson ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Benson is located in Etowah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benson
    • Aurora
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Egypt
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Ivalee
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Greer ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Greer is located in Etowah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greer
    • Ridgeville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Ridgeville is located in Etowah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgeville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 109 people
    • Attalla
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Blount County
  • Calhoun County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Altoona, with the one closest to Altoona listed first.
    • Southside
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Cochran Springs
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Oak Level
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Douthrittville ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Douthrittville is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douthrittville
    • Ohatchee
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Grayton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Hebron ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Macon
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Beasley ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Beasley is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beasley
    • Boozer ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Boozer is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boozer
    • Bruner ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Bruner is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bruner
    • Chigger Ridge ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Chigger Ridge is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chigger Ridge
  • Cullman County
  • DeKalb County
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Altoona, with the one closest to Altoona listed first.
    • Ayres
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Village Springs
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Village Springs is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Village Springs
    • Masseyline
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Masseyline is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Masseyline
    • Clay
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Palmerdale
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Trafford
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Bradford
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Breakstone Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Breakstone Village is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Breakstone Village
    • East Trussville ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • East Trussville is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Trussville
  • Marshall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Altoona, with the one closest to Altoona listed first.
    • Douglas
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Douglas is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douglas
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 780 people
    • Reedbrake ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Reedbrake is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reedbrake
    • Whitesville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Bartlett ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Bartlett is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bartlett
    • Horton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Bowen ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Bowen is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowen
    • Big Spring ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Big Spring is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Spring
    • Hyatt
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Boaz
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Albertville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Rabbit Town
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Rabbit Town is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rabbit Town
    • Street ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Street is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Street
  • Morgan County
  • Saint Clair County

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Altoona, see our County-by-County Page for Altoona.

Cemeteries Near Altoona ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Altoona.

This is a new section and is likely to have errors. If you find an error, such as a missing cemetery or we have the wrong name, please let us know. If you know of them, we would also appreciate learning about previous or alternate names.

Although we don't have the information ourselves, if you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our list of websites on our Genealogy Helper Page for Altoona - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Altoona covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Altoona, with the one closest to Altoona listed first.

  • Altoona Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Moody Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Ellison Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Altoona - Walnut Grove Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Moodys Chapel Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Sauls Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Cornelius Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Bird Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Harris Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Bynum Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Robbins Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Mt. Moriah Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (382 more) ...
    • Bethlehem Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Gallant Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Morton Chapel Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)

Nearby Communities in 1895 ...

We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.<3>

While we didn't find Altoona in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Altoona.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Altoona, with the one closest to Altoona listed first.

  • Nix ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Nix is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nix
  • Walnut Grove
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Bird ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Bird is located in Blount County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bird
  • Clear Springs ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Clear Springs is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Springs
  • Gallant
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Redbud
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Redbud is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redbud
  • Wynnville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Snead
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Clarence
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Highmound
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Stanfield ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Stanfield is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanfield
  • Howelton
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Alice
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Alice is located in Etowah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alice
    • Huldah ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Huldah is located in Blount County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huldah
    • Champion
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Champion is located in Blount County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Champion

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Altoona. See our List of 1890's Communities around Altoona.

Newspapers Published in Altoona ...

An ongoing effort between the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has resulted in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).

To share their results, the partnership has created the Chronicling America website. The goal of this partnership is to assemble a database about the current and historic newspapers of the United States. This includes a growing collection of scanned images from selected papers. All of it available to the public on their website.

Using information that we've taken from the Chronicling America website, we've identified 33 newspapers that have been published in the area around Altoona.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Altoona, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Altoona.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer websites offer the information directly or else point to where you can find it. Their information is open to everyone.

To help you get started, the following links will take you to the pages that are relevant to Altoona:

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Altoona) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Altoona, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.